Dunhuang
lies at the western end
of the Hexi Corridor in
Gansu Province in
Northwest China, an
oasis on the eastern
edge of Takli- makan
Desert. It is nourished
by melted snow water
from the Qilian
Mountains. The ancient
town used to be an
important stop-over
point on the Silk Road.
The name "Dunhuang" was
given in the Han
Dynasty. In Chinese
"Dun" means grandness
and " Huang" means
prosperity. In the 2nd
century B.C. Emperor
Wudi of the Han Dynasty
sent imperial envoy
Zhang Qian to the
Western Regions, opening
up a trade route which
was to be known as the
"Silk Road" in
history.The imperial
court set up Dunhuang
Prefecture in A.D. 111
and Dunhuang became a
strategic town. Through
this route Chinese
culture and products,
especially silk, were
introduced to European
and Middle East coun
tries, and foreign
culture and products
such as Buddhism of
India came to central
China. Much of Buddhism
is propagated through
artistic forms, which
were soon assimilated
into the Chinese
traditional culture. The
result was that many
Buddhist images were
carved in caves in
mountain cliffs along
the Silk Road. Many of
them have been well
preserved. The best are
those at Mogao in
Dunhuang. The Dunhuang
Grotto Art is composed
of the Cave and Yulin
Grottos in Anxi. Carving
of the Mogao Grottos,
commonly known as 1,
000- Buddha Caves, began
in AD 366 and continued
through a dozen
dynasties including the
Northern Liang ,
Northern Wei, Western
Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui,
Tang, Five-Dynasties
Period, Song, Huihe,
Western Xia and Yuan.
The extant 492 caves
preserve more than 2,
000 color statues and
45,000 square meters of
murals. The mural themes
depict Buddha portraits,
stories and
interpretations of
Buddhist scriptures,
Buddhist history,
legends, portraits of
devotees and various
decorative patterns.
They describe different
ethnic groups, people’s
lives such as nobles’
outings, singing,
dancing and music,
farming, fishing and
hunting, acrobatics and
martial art practice,
foreign envoys and
merchants on the Silk
Road. Some scholars
liken these murals to a
"library on the wall, "
In the early 20th
century some 50,000
pieces of cultural
relics were found in the
Scripture-Keeping Cave
including handwritten
documents and more than
1,000 pieces of silk
painting, graphic
painting , embroidery
and calligraphy. Put
together the art works
would form a
25-kilometer-long art
gallery. The Mogao
Grottos were dug in
loose sedimentary
conglomerate of the the
Quaternary Period. Some
parts collapsed in
earthquakes. But the dry
weather has preserved
the basic outlook of the
cliffs. In the 1940s the
Dunhuang Art Research
Institute was
established at Mogao.
After the founding of
the People’s Republic of
China, the new
government began an
overall repair and
reinforcement project on
39 caves, saving 1,800
square meters of murals
and 200 color statues.
The Western 1,000-Buddha
Cave and Yulin Grottos
at Anxi have been public
after renovation.
Grottos in Dunhuang are
a national treasure of
China and a cultural
heritage of the world.
In 1962 the State
Council put them among
China’s first key
cultural relics under
state protection and in
1991 the UNESCO put them
on its list of world
natural and cultural
heritages. This album
includes the best works
representing different
historical periods with
brief introductions.